Niko
by Obi the Kid
Summary: Present-day Cal glances back to the past. A new series consisting of Cal POV flashback stories – moments from his past that center around Niko's influence on him.
1. Niko

**Series Title:** Niko

**Author:** Obi the Kid

**Rating:** PG

**Series Summary:** Present-day Cal glances back to the past. A new series consisting of **Cal POV** _flashback stories_ – moments from his past that center around Niko's influence on him.

**Disclaimer**: All hail Rob Thurman! No profit here, I'm just having fun.

* * *

He's the reason why. Why I am alive. Why I'm sane. Why I'm not a mass murdering killing machine. Why I haven't been torn to pieces by Wolves or shot dead by the Vigil.

He's why. Niko. My brother.

He raised me from birth. Taught me to crawl, walk, eat, talk. Kept me safe from the 'Mom from Worse than Any Hell Imaginable'. Saved me from lava red eyes peering into dirty windows and causing instant pant wetting until I was five. He went without food so that I could eat. Gave me his blanket in the winter when there was no heat. Lectured me on bullies; being beaten up by them and beating _them _up. Made sure I had clothes, shoes and a backpack for school. He made me go to school (I've forgiven him for that). Walked me to and from until I was big enough to ride the bus or walk there on my own.

He was my brother, father, mother every single day of my life. He taught me, corrected me, forced me to learn – mostly against my will – and made sure I wasn't a complete moron.

He saved me from the serial killing bastard Junior who would've skinned me alive.

He saved me from myself upon return from my own Hell where the Auphe had turned me against my will into what they'd bred me for.

He didn't turn away when that monster inside me changed me from black hair and gray eyes to silver-white and that same lava red he'd hidden me from for the first 5 years of my life.

Every single damned day of my life, he made sure- and still does - that I knew I was loved and not alone and that someone gave a shit about me.

There was never any praise for him No help from family or friends – not that we had any. No easy times. No days off. No rest. No outlet for his own emotions. He simply did what he had to do…because I was his brother.

It's why I won't live past his death, if he goes before me. It's why I'd blow up the entire world to save him. It's why I annoy him every day. His body-temple authoritarian exercise regimen. His inedible soy and seaweed food. His anal-assed self. I give him hell for it all. He's always made sure I knew I wasn't alone – it's how I make sure he knows the same. Because he's my brother. I would die for him. I would kill for him. I would go to Auphe Hell for him. I would do all these things and more because without him, I'm dead or insane or a madman-monster hybrid that knows only to slaughter and kill without thought or remorse.

Without him, I am nothing.

Without him, I am Caliban. Merciless. Monster. Auphe.

With him, I am everything he sees in me, even if I don't see it in myself.

With him, I am Cal. Human hybrid with a foul mouth, an unhealthy love for guns and the diet of a triple heart attack waiting to happen.

With him, I am a little brother; one with a big brother that loves the shit out of him.

With him, I am what he raised me to be, flaws and all.

Given this life to live all over again, I'd not hesitate.

Why?

I wouldn't leave Nik to do this alone. Never in a thousand lives.

Because he's my brother.

Niko.

* * *

The end of the intro story…other stories in the series coming soon and eventually!


	2. Good

**Chapter Title:** Good

**Series Title:** Niko

**Author:** Obi the Kid

**Rating:** PG

**Chapter Summary:** A 7 year oldCal finds an unexpected stash of cash.

**Series Summary:** A new series consisting of **Cal POV** _flashback stories_ – he reflects on moments from his past that centered around Niko's influence on him.

**Disclaimer**: All hail Rob Thurman! No profit here, I'm just having fun.

* * *

"Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik?" That had been me. Screaming my brother's name and running my short seven year old legs into the trailer and barreling full-on into that same brother with a thud.

"What is wrong with you?" He'd asked me at the time. Or was that yesterday? Eh, he asked it a lot when we were kids; maybe he asks it more today. Issue on my part perhaps? Anyway, I'd slammed into my much taller big brother – he was eleven but could've passed for a teenager easy. I'd pushed the fat brown wallet into his hand.

"Here, Nik. Look inside. All that damned money!"

I'd gotten 'the look' for my use of the word 'damned.' Niko wasn't much for cussing and he tried hard as a kid to keep me clean. Wasn't his fault I was a miserable failure. "Just look inside!"

Money. A few hundred, maybe more? I'd waited for him to count it.

"Six hundred twenty seven dollars and eighteen cents."

"We could eat off that for a year, Nik! And I could get jeans without holes in them."

"Cal, this belongs to someone else. Not to us. There's ID in here. Look. Rory Paterack."

"What the hell kind of name is Rory Paterack? And who cares, we found it, we keep it. Right?"

He'd ignored the language on that one to get his point across. "If I left you on the street and someone found you, does that mean they keep you?"

"They couldn't handle me."

"True, but you didn't answer the question."

"Well, no, but I'm a living thing, not a wallet fat with more cash than we'll ever see!"

"Look, the address is that community down the hill. We'll go and see if we can find this guy."

"But, Nik…it's…we could get some real food, actual meals. We need that…_you _need that."

He was skinny then, my brother. Not from anally-obsessive workouts like in our adult lives, but from the lack of food and any proper nutrition that kids need to function. Somehow he managed on less than enough. Don't ask me how, but he did. And if all we had on the dinner plate was a moldy PBJ sandwich, he'd take about a quarter of it and make sure I had the rest, no matter my protests.

Now this was our chance for food. Real food. Not scraps or stale remnants from the neighbor's dinner that they'd tossed in the trashcan that night. At that point in our lives, we had paid enough, hadn't we? Weren't we due for something good to happen? Wasn't Nik due something good?

He was, but Nik was too good for what I wanted so badly. Stealing from whoever this Paterack guy was, it was wrong. No matter how much it would help us.

I gave in. "You're right, Nik. Let's go find his house. Sorry."

No grudges. That wasn't my brother, not when it came to me. I was young and foolish. He was young and brilliant. I knew that even if he didn't for himself. He'd ruffled my hair and told me to put on my shoes, ignoring the fact that I'd been running around outside without them when I'd found the wallet. I was me back then. I had my own way of being me, just like today. Sometimes Nik didn't bother to fight that particular battle.

A twenty minute walk had us at the address on the wallet ID. We'd knocked. A man came to the door. Big guy. Dark hair. Friendly eyes. Friendly, but suspicious at the same time, seeing us two raggedy kids standing on his front porch. By appearance only, we were troublemakers, no doubt about it.

"Can I help you boys?"

Niko had held out the brown wallet. "We found this, sir, over the way in the mobile park where we live. This address is inside. Mr. Paterack?"

"That's me." He'd taken the wallet and quickly looked inside, checking the money, counting with his eyes. It had been a lot of money. Every single dollar of it was still there - thanks to Niko. But this guy, he'd been right to not trust us. I wouldn't have trusted us. There we were, wearing beaten down shirts, ripped jeans, and mud-caked shoes. Our hair was combed though. That also thanks to Niko. There was no honor in not combing your hair when going to visit someone, he'd told me. We could do nothing about the clothes, but the hair – we had owned a brush at the time.

"You say you found it in the mobile park, huh? I was over there yesterday. Must've dropped it. Funny, I hadn't noticed yet. You boys saved me a lot of time and aggravation." A twenty dollar bill was passed to Niko then. He had tried to refuse it. But I could tell the effort was half-hearted. Niko was honorable and honest, but he wasn't a fool. And as hoped, the man was having none of it and shoved the money into Nik's hand. "Thank you, boys."

We had turned to leave, Niko immediately draping an arm around me and squeezing tight. We'd done the right thing and in the end came away with enough money to give us one good meal for maybe four days if we used it wisely.

The man's voice then stopped us before we'd gotten too far. "Boys?"

We'd turned back toward him, Niko said, "Sir?"

The man's friendly eyes had gone concerned. "You boys need help with anything? I mean, you're all right, yes?" He'd known. Not the details of course, but he'd known we were not much more than white trash living on scraps with probably a parent or two who couldn't give a crap. And I remember thinking…this was our chance. Someone finally taking concern for us and all we had to do was tell this guy that we had a drunken whore mother, no food, no real home…and it would all get better. Right? Isn't that how it all works? Authorities get involved. They come inspect our home lives. Social Services. Foster homes…separation. Nik and I ripped apart.

No, that could never happen. Neither of us would have survived that. And we'd kept our mouths shut. As much as we may have wanted to tell this man that things were _not _all right, we didn't. Life together, even in the hell we lived, was ten times better than life apart. I loved my brother. He loved me. He was the only person who loved me. We were all we had. That wasn't going to change.

Niko's gray eyes met the man's dark ones and my brother, who didn't lie – _to_ me – lied this time, _for_ me. "We're all right, Sir. Everything is okay. Thank you for the concern though. I'm glad you got your wallet back."

And we'd left the house without looking back, without hesitation.

We didn't walk home. Not with our stomachs grumbling as they were. We went directly into town. At least part of that reward money was going into our stomachs immediately.

Staring at the menu in the fast food place a mile from the mobile park, I starred up at the board.

I'd tried to con Nik into letting me get the chicken strips, but he said they cost too much and we had to make the money stretch as far as possible. So it was the dollar menu or bust. In the end, we settled on small hamburgers, fries and soda for each. Cheap and enough to curtail hunger for a few hours…and Nik got to eat. For once, he wouldn't have to go without to make sure his baby brother was fed.

We'd sat near a window. The late afternoon sunlight had felt good; warming and relaxing. A big deal for us. It was always a good thing when we could get out of the trailer or shack or whatever we may have been living in at the time. It had given us a small glimpse of something normal; just me and my brother.

Halfway through our meal, a large shadow approached our table. A man. Big guy. Familiar. Dark hair and friendly eyes; that suspicion in them long gone. In his hands were two white bags. Take out bags. He sat them on the edge of our table.

"Should be enough here for three meals for the both of you." He'd said. "For being honest kids. Good kids. Despite…" He had paused there to pass a knowing glance at Niko. This man, this stranger – like Niko – he hadn't been a fool. This guy had known desperate when he saw it. He knew it and instead of looking past us as others often did, he'd offered what he could.

I remember so vividly then, Niko touching one of the bags and looking quickly inside, then closing his eyes for a long slow blink. They were glassy when he looked back to me, then to the man. I was only seven at the time, but I knew gratitude when I saw it. Niko had taught me all about it; him and his obsession with big words. This guy had helped us when no one else had given us a second glance. For that, Niko would never forget.

The man spoke again before leaving, and I think Niko's unexpected reaction had gotten to him. "You boys be good now. Take care of each other. It'll get better as long as you do. Enjoy your supper."

Neither Niko nor I had gotten a 'thank you' out and he'd gone. I then grabbed my bag, ready to dig in, when Nik's hand on my wrist stopped me. The man had said three meals in each bag, but as much as I wanted to stuff my face…I couldn't. I didn't.

Patience. I often lacked it despite the efforts of my brother, though you had to love him. Niko. He'd worked so damn hard to teach it to me.

My hand off the bag, I saw Nik's gray eyes still watery. Taking a bite of my burger, I'd asked him with a full mouth. "Y'okay, Nik?"

I'd gotten another one of his 'looks'. This one said, "You know better than to talk to me with a mouth full of food, I taught you better than that, little brother." I _had_ known better of course, but I'd done it on purpose. Nik was struggling. Trying so hard for so long to do everything right and to look after me…sometimes we just needed a mood breaker. So, I shoved another mouthful in and repeated my question, a bit more muffled this time.

"Yogank?"

I won. He snorted. Victory! He smiled. A _real_ victory.

I'd laughed after that. Even I wouldn't have known what I said if I hadn't been the one to say it. But it worked. And I'd take a genuine Niko smile over a meal any day.

"Yeah, Cal, I'm okay."

"Maybe we should start a lost wallet business. There seem be free meals attached."

He snorted again. "Don't count on it. We got lucky this time. He was a good person. Although let this be a lesson to you about stealing."

"I didn't steal anything. I found the wallet and brought to you, remember?"

"True, but you thought about taking the money out."

"But I didn't!"

"I convinced you."

"It was a lot of money, Nik."

"Not worth it in the end, little brother."

He'd been right of course. Always right. And finally he'd let me take a peak in the bag; three large orders of chicken strips for me. Yup, that guy had been a good person all right. A mind reader too, evidently. But my nose had told me that he'd been human, through and through. Seemed there was more than one good human in the world after all. Niko wasn't as alone as maybe he thought.

In the end, we'd had a good week. Stomachs that didn't have to scream with hunger topped it off. It was summer. No school – but I was still learning- always learning from my big brother. He made sure of that. Book work or history lessons from the town we were in, or observing how he did things. Things like taking the honest road and giving over six hundred dollars back to a stranger who'd lost his wallet, knowing full well, would could have kept that money and no one would have ever been the wiser. That wasn't my brother though. He wasn't dishonest or hateful or spiteful – no matter our lives; no matter what he saw every single day in our 'mother'. He had every right to be all those things and more, but no, he was a good kid; a good man. Maybe the best on the whole damned planet.

In passing, we'd seen Mr. Paterack again – a few times – before Sophia up and moved us two months later. I'd given him a quick wave and Niko a quirk of a smile, but we never spoke to him after that first encounter. That was somewhere in Pennsylvania. Got to wonder he is today. Wasn't often that I had positive thoughts running though my warped, half-monster mind, but I do hope that his life was filled with a crap load of good. Like Nik, he did things because they were the right thing. And good people deserve good things. That wasn't me. I wasn't like him or my brother. I wasn't good. But that didn't mean I refused to appreciate it or know how damn lucky I was to have that type of good in my sorry ass excuse for a life.

Nik was good. Nik was my big brother. And really… the word _lucky _didn't even begin to cover it.

* * *

The End


	3. Holey Flower Socks, Batman!

**Chapter Title:** Holey Flower Socks, Batman!

**Series Title:** Niko

**Author:** Obi the Kid

**Rating:** PG

**Chapter Summary:** Six year old Cal has a sock dilemma.

**Series Summary:** A new series consisting of **Cal POV** _flashback stories_ – he reflects on moments from his past that centered around Niko's influence on him.

**Disclaimer**: All hail Rob Thurman! No profit here, I'm just having fun.

* * *

"M'feet are cold, Nik."

"That's because you have holes in your socks. Where's the new pair I got you last week?"

"They got flowers on them, I can't wear flowers. I'm a guy!"

"You're a kid and it's all I could find in the neighbors donation bag before I got chased off."

"You don't got flowers on your socks."

"Don't _have_. And no, mine are blue. You want my blue socks and I'll take your flower socks?"

"Your blue socks have holes in them."

"Because I couldn't find a pair for me, these are my old socks."

"They got holes."

"They _have _holes."

"Got. Have. What's the difference? You know what I mean. My feet are cold."

"Okay, how about you take my holey blue socks, put your new ones under them. That way you'll have double warmth, no one will see the flowers and the holes in the blue ones won't make your feet colder."

"I can do that, just don't tell anyone that I have on flower socks."

"You are a stubborn little brother, Cal."

Yup, that was the saga of the holey-flower socks. Or part of it anyway. I mean, flower socks. Really? Nik actually wanted me to wear socks with colorful girly flowers on them! I was six, damn it! One third the way to being a man, and I deserved manly socks. Or at least socks with Great White sharks or Monster Trucks on them or something that wouldn't automatically get my ass beat to hell in school. Turns out, that was also the beginning of my whole double sock obsession. I blame my brother of course.

It hadn't been the end of the holey-flower sock saga though. Nik found another pair of flower socks the next day in the lost and found at school. What the hell? Didn't people lose or donate plain old white socks anymore? These new flower socks were bigger though. They fit Nik perfectly. And he wore them. To prove a point of course; mostly that I was an idiot.

"Nik, you got holes in your flower socks."

"Have. Not got. The holes are only in the heels, not the toes. They're good. See how easy it is? You just put them on, stand up straight, walk with confidence and dare anyone to mock your footwear."

"And if they do, you can kick 'em in the knee!"

"Cal."

Ah, the single syllable name. The tone. The look. He'd started on me young. It worked then. It works today. Maybe I am an idiot.

"What've I told you about that?"

"Kick 'em in the shin?"

"Cal."

There it had come again. The name. The tone. The look.

"No kicking, so, flick the ear?"

"Like this you mean?"

First ear flick ever that was. I blame the holey-flower socks.

"Ow! Nik, that hurt!"

"I'm waiting."

Waiting for me to stop acting like a moron and answer his question. I really was a stubborn little bastard back then.

"Don't hit. Don't hurt. Don't name call. Just walk away."

"Right."

"But what if…"

"No. No what if's. You can't strangle other kids just because they make fun of your socks. You're not the only child on the planet who has holes in their socks, you know."

"I got flowers on 'em, Nik!"

"I _have_. Cal. _Have_. And at least you have socks. Some kids don't even have that."

"They can have my flower socks."

It was done. Over. I'd worn him out. At ten, Nik wasn't quite as strong willed as he is today. Actually, today, he's the more stubborn bastard of the two of us, but then? I could defeat him eventually if I tried hard enough. I only did it for my own amusement. Well, that and to lighten our lives a bit. In a backwards way my antics showed Niko how much I loved him. No one else loved him. No one else gave a rat's ass about him. But I did. And I wasn't old enough to really be an emotional pillar, so I did want I could.

He'd gone to the couch after that. A tiny couch tricked out in that 1970's mustard yellow with holes to match our socks.

"Cal, come here."

"What?"

"Just come here, please."

Figured I was in trouble. No Batman comic book for a week or some other horrible six year old punishment.

I'd stood in front of him awaiting the bad news.

I got a hair ruffle and a kiss on the head instead. And that…well, that was ten times worse punishment for a little brother!

"Niiiik, stop it! You said you'd stop doing that when I turned six. I'm six and a month. You promised."

"I did not promise. I said I would try. Would you rather me take your comic book time away?"

"Yes!"

"Too late. Now take your holey-flower socked self and get washed up. Shower, homework and dinner."

"Fish sticks again?"

"No, tonight we have ramen noodles. I can buy ten of them for about two dollars."

"They slurp when I eat them."

"That's you doing the slurping. Not the noodle. Go on now, shower. Or I will help strip you down and wash you myself. And you will wash. With soap. Understand me?"

"Should I wash my socks?"

"No, do not get into the shower with any of your clothes on. They won't dry before school tomorrow. Cal, don't make me come in there, please."

"No clothes in the shower. K'Nik. I'll do it right. I still got holey-flower socks though."

"_Have_! You _have _holey-flower socks!"

And the socks had come off and I balled them up and threw them in Niko's face and laughed my ass off. Well, I was six, so I laughed my butt off instead. Nik was about to get mad before he realized that it was all just too damned funny. I was a funny kid. Aggravating and annoying as hell, but funny. Nik needed that. Our lives needed that.

He's caught the socks and just missed hitting me with them as my short legs raced into the tiny bathroom and slammed the door. As I'd run, I'd kept laughing – giggling really (I was six!) – and gave Niko what he'd needed after a session with his pain in the ass little brother..

I yelled from behind the closed door…"Love you, big brother!"

I knew he'd smiled at that. I didn't see it, but he did.

And he'd needed my aggravation that evening. It had been a long week. A stressful one. Nik didn't have that emotional outlet, but he had me. And sometimes I was just what he needed.

* * *

The End


End file.
